CLEVELAND — Sorry, Joe. This is all about Nets shooting guard Joe Johnson, despite his attempted desire to dwell in near anonymity.

“You don’t need to read about me. Don’t write about me. I fly under the radar. I’ve been like that my whole career. It doesn’t bother me, not one bit,” Johnson said before scoring 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting in the Nets’ season-opening 98-94 loss to the Cavaliers. “You don’t have to talk about me. I’m going to come out and do my job. Don’t worry about me.”

But doesn’t everybody like to read about themselves, flash the toothpaste smile and pose with the best side to the camera? Regardless, the Net making the most money ($22.46 million) this season may have been discussed the least this preseason.

“Honest, I could care less,” Johnson said. “I was that way in Atlanta, I was that way in Phoenix when I played with Shawn Marion, Amar’e [Stoudemire], Quentin [Richardson], Steve Nash. It doesn’t bother me, really. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

In a weird way, however, it seems as if it is. One year ago, Johnson was the Nets’ major offseason acquisition, a six-time All-Star with big shot ability and athleticism who was to team with Deron Williams for a dream backcourt. He averaged 16.3 points — his worst mark since 2002-03.

But he was the Nets’ best clutch shooter: in games when the Nets were either tied or trailed by at least three points with less than a minute left, Johnson was a 9-of-10 shooter. Still, the whole preseason has been about Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and Williams.

“Doesn’t bother me, not one bit,” said Johnson, 32, who played on a debilitating sore left heel down the stretch and in the playoffs last season.

“I’m good, I’m ready to go,” Johnson said of the foot. “But I don’t want to jinx myself and talk about”

Of course.

So Johnson would rather talk about — and have everybody else talk about — his teammates.

“This is probably the most exciting team I’ve been on in my whole career. When they put us together, we kind of figured what we have,” Johnson said.

Wednesday night, the Nets didn’t have enough against the Cavaliers.

“A tough one,” Johnson said. “We got of to a good start, then seemed out of sync.”

But to a man, the Nets feel it will all come together. And a big part will be Johnson. When others discuss him, they start not with his clutch shooting but with his defense. Jason Terry is thrilled he no longer has to face Johnson.

“I’ve gone against him too much,” Terry said. “He’s been wearing me out all training camp. He’s a tough cover for anybody in this league. Everybody talks about his offense but it’s his defense more than anything, his ability to guard one through four and get stops when the game is on the line.

“He welcomes that challenge. Not many players that make the amount of money he does relish the role of being a guy to lock up and take on an opposing team’s best player,” Terry added.

Pierce echoed the sentiment.

“Joe Johnson is a proven All-Star,” Pierce said. “He has shown the ability to be one of the most clutch players in the whole entire NBA, a guy we’re going to depend on late in games.

“What people don’t realize is he’s an underrated defender. I’ve played on that side of the ball against him and I know when he puts his mind to it, he can be a great defender.”